Good Neighbors: Karen Elson’s Backyard Performance in Nashville

“Have the cops been called yet?” asked Karen Elson with a smile as she stood, beatific in a long white dress, tuning her guitar in the backyard of Imogene + Willie in Nashville, Tennessee, where she was playing a short set on Wednesday evening. “Will I have to bat my eyelashes at an officer?”

Lucky is the policeman who responds to that noise complaint (Imogene + Willie, a true Southern store that focuses on custom denim, is located in a residential neighborhood), but it never came to pass. Rather, last night’s concert, the first in the store’s “Supper and Song” summer series, was totally mellow with locals like Brendan Benson of The Raconteurs, actresses Sarah Ramos and Brie Larson, and Stephanie Auerbach and Emily Ward (who are married to The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, respectively) snacking on tacos from the Mas Tacos truck (owner Teresa Mason is an alumni of Five Points and the shuttered Provence in New York City), and children old enough to run around were doing just that. Tinier Tennesseans rode in on their parents’ backs or shoulders. It felt a lot like a family reunion.

Kate Tucker, a cool raven-haired beauty who opened for Elson, called it first. “I’ve been in Seattle and Brooklyn, both big music scenes,” she said, “but neither feel as communal as Nashville.”

And that seems to be exactly what Elson likes about it. During her informal yet powerful performance (far from the typical model turned singer, she is a fully realized performer with a voice that’s closer to Loretta Lynn than anyone would expect from a gentle Brit), Elson called out to her kids, Scarlett, five, and Henry, four, who were bopping up and down in front, occasionally coming up to cling to her legs. “I’m really excited because this is going to make me the cool mom,” Elson said with a laugh. “I’m usually not.”

As difficult as that was to believe, Elson’s talent and loyalty to her adopted hometown, where she’s lived for the last six years, were entirely authentic. As the evening sky turned pink behind her and she wrapped up her set, Elson thanked her hosts, Imogene + Willie’s Carrie and Matt Eddmenson. “I think this store and series is such an important part of Nashville’s 12th South community,” she said referring to the artsy, hipster area. “I’m just proud to be a neighbor.”